<html>
<head>
<title>"Known" Unknowns</title>
</head>
<body>
<pre>
<b>
`
Sunday July 22, 2007
POLITICAL ESSAYS
"Known" Unknowns
`
`
Under the July 21st Headline "Iraq Pullout Would Face Many
Unknowns," AP reports:
`
"...perhaps the biggest question on planners' minds is...:
`
"Will it be a 'fighting withdrawal'?
`
"Will some in Iraq's wide array of armed groups attack the
hundreds of convoys needed to move U.S. equipment south?"
`
In itself. this is a truly absurd question!
`
Additionally, it presupposes a couple of things:
`
(1) "The easiest thing is getting the troops out." (AP is
quoting a retired general.)
`
(2) Getting gear out by way of Kuwait is no problem.
`
Finally. the headline indicates yet another presupposition:
the withdrawal will be a pullout rather than a rout.
`
Additionally, note the word "Iraq" in the headline.
`
Whichever --pullout or rout--, it belongs to The Superpower.
`
`
`
</b>
`
AP:
`
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070721/ap_ ... &printer=1`
From my August 3, 2005 "Memo - August 1 / 2, 2005" essay:
`
You may have noticed the Iraq-Syria border is a hot-spot.
`
The Superpower needs to keep its options open for getting
out of Iraq without losing most of its troops.
`
Leaving via tiny Kuwait invites Iran's army to fall upon
what's left of The Superpower's troops without further ado.
`
So leaving --being driven out-- via Syria/Israel is attrac-
tive. Preparations have been made.
`
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Political ... essage/594`
</pre>
</body>
</html>

The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

"Rummy "

_________________Look out kid, They keep it all hid.”
Bob Dylan “Subterranean Homesick Blues”

Man, that is the poetry of the absurd. I thought you were making it up! The way you annotated and presented it is a real example of how our leaders deal in apocalyptic cyclical bafflegab on a regular basis.

Rummy was a poet, but didn't know it. Proper prose indeed!

_________________Completely sane world
madness the only freedom

An ability to see both sides of a question
one of the marks of a mature mind